Industrial Safety: How Complacency At Industrial Facilities Has Evolved As A Result Of Widespread Corporate Leadership Induced Reductions In Force Of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers, Christina Kniffin-Downs

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

With the renewal of interest in nuclear energy as a green energy source, battery plant manufacturing for electric vehicles, and semiconductor fabrication plant construction, it is necessary to address the evolution of complacency as it relates to industrial facility leadership and the widespread reduction in force of essential critical infrastructure workers. As a skilled craft person in the piping trades, with almost two decades of experience in mechanical construction, ten of those years as a nuclear worker, and as a traveling pipefitter working at chemical, refinery, and gasification plants, I am intimately aware of the behaviors, practices, and procedures inherent …

A Case Study Examining The Implementation Of Multi-Tiered System Of Supports During Mathematics Intervention In Grades 3-5, Sarah Lumpkin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

ABSTRACT

This case study examined how Multi-Tiered System of Supports were implemented in mathematics at an elementary school, the factors that influenced teachers’ instructional choices, and how school leadership impacted implementation. Participants consisted of four elementary school teachers and four members of the school’s leadership team. The study focused specifically on mathematics teachers in grades 3-5. These three research questions guided the study: (1) How do mathematics teachers implement MTSS in grades 3-5? (2) What influences the teachers’ choices during MTSS implementation? and (3) How does school leadership impact the implementation of MTSS in mathematics intervention? A triangulation of data …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between A Novice Educator Support Team And The Self-Efficacy Of Beginning Teachers In Elementary, Middle, And High Schools, Bailey Holmquist

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Over the last twenty years, there has been an increase in teacher turnover and, in attempts to mitigate this issue, states and school districts have developed novice teacher mentoring programs. A Large Suburban School District implemented a novice teacher mentoring program during the 2021–2022 school year with the goal of providing novice teachers with a larger system of support to increase retention rates. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between novice teacher perceptions of a mentoring program and novice teacher perceptions of self–efficacy. Novice teachers (i.e., 1 to 3 years of teaching experience) received a survey …

Acquiring, Appraising, And Applying Evidence To Facilitate Evidence-Based Medical Education, Meredith Ratliff

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study explored evidence-based education in health professions education through three interrelated manuscripts. First, a scoping review of evidence-based medical education examined the use of the term “evidence-based” in the literature and the presence of evidence-based practices. The review analyzed numerous studies to understand how evidence-based education is defined and applied within the medical education community, highlighting key trends, gaps, and inconsistencies in the application of evidence-based principles. Next, a study employed an agile evidence-based instructional design (AVIDesign) model to create an evidence-based course in palliative care for medical students. This model integrated iterative development processes with evidence-based educational strategies, …

Capable Rhetoric: Embodied Rhetorical Listening And Midwives' Arguments For The Maternal Body On Instagram, Aminta C. Quintero-Jackson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

When women find out they are pregnant, they encounter discourse about their bodies they may not have consciously considered before. Frequently, the information is based on ideologies that consider maternal bodies to be inherently problematic. The discourse in this information informs and shapes women’s choices about the role of medical oversight in their pregnancies and impacts the perceptions they have of themselves.

Midwives argue that mothers and their bodies are not inherently problematic but are powerful and capable of childbirth. They argue that medical oversight has been too aggressive in birth management, interrupting the natural process of birth and causing …

Lobbying As A Means For Expanding The Communication Instructional Base In Higher Education Iii, Craig Newburger, Patricia L. Donat, Sherwyn P. Morreale

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Based on several national mandates, this essay examines the support for and importance of active advocacy among our discipline members in framing the conversation about oral communication proficiency, leading instructional design, and assessing student learning on our campuses. Recommended action involves the development and implementation of a coordinated strategy for engaging both institutional accreditors and those charged with the development and modification of individual campus general education requirements regarding the importance of communication scholars and instructors as principal designers of learning goals, subsequent learning activities, and the corresponding assessment of oral communication instruction on college campuses.

Journal Of The Association For Communication Administration: Complete Volume 41

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete volume of JACA Volume 41.

Navigating And Thriving In Leadership: Practical Advice For Elected And Appointed Association Leaders, Tiffany R. Wang

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Elected and appointed association leaders face circumstances that can make professional service challenging. This essay offers practical advice for how association leaders can navigate and thrive in leadership roles as they fulfill their duties and responsibilities. Current and past association leaders offer observations and recommendations for success.

Altitude And Pitch Control Of A Tethered Multi-Rotor Autogyro Using A Reduced Order Model, Tasnia Noboni

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Long-duration deployment of UAVs for surveillance and communication purposes can be very energy-consuming and expensive. Tethered autogyro-based UAVs can provide an energy-efficient solution to this problem and produce energy in the presence of a strong and persistent wind field at higher altitudes. Instead of using an engine, the unpowered autogyro rotors produce lift by creating an upward thrust force while relative airflow passes up through the rotor blades. The tether provides mooring action and can be used bidirectionally for transmitting or receiving power from the autogyro. Thus, tethered autogyros can address recent environmental concerns by reducing carbon footprint via efficient …

A Study Of The Effects Of Microgravity Through Porous Media In Microfluidic Devices, Taylor A. Peterson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

In recent years, space exploration has been driving studies that enable sustained human presence in space. In such studies, fluidics relating to biology have become important. Fluids in biological systems span from large-scale flows relevant to circulatory, digestion, and pulmonary systems, but also involve many micro-scale porous flows. Hence, space exploration is driving a novel need to characterize fluidics in microscales in microgravity conditions. In this work, we study the porous flow network within bones that stimulates cellular growth and has the potential to relate to osteoporosis (including driving osteoporosis in astronauts). To study this effect, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) …

A Human-In-The-Loop Approach: Designing An Ai-Assisted Workflow, Abram Anders, Emily Dux Speltz

Teaching Repository of AI-Infused Learning

This teaching case presents an AI-assisted workflow design activity that challenges students to integrate AI tools into solving real-world communication problems. Students engage in a structured process of problem identification, solution sketching, and prototype development, culminating in the creation and testing of an AI-human collaborative workflow. The activity fosters critical thinking about AI capabilities and limitations while encouraging students to apply AI tools to personally relevant scenarios.

Analyzing The Use Of Plain Language In Brief Summaries On Clinicaltrials.Gov, Megan J. Eddington

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

ClinicalTrials.gov is a database designed to help clinical researchers make their research publicly available. The clinical trials registered on the database each include a brief summary, which is meant to be a short description that the public can easily understand. In September 2022, ClinicalTrials.gov published a "Plain Language Checklist for Lay Brief Summaries" on their website, which identifies plain language best practices intended to help investigators craft summaries that can be readily understood by the public. This thesis assesses the impact of the checklist on the language use in the brief summaries in the year following the checklist's publication. The …

Human Performance In Context: Exploring The Effect Of Social Support On Vigilance, Allison E. Garibaldi

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Over many decades, vigilance research has consistently found that performance on vigilance tasks decline over time (i.e., the vigilance decrement; Davies & Parasuraman, 1982), and that performing a vigilance task is both mentally demanding and stressful (Warm et al., 2008). Researchers have subsequently implemented a wide range of interventions to both understand and attempt to attenuate the vigilance decrement and its associated affective effects. Among these efforts, little attention has been devoted to understanding the effects of the social environment on vigilance. Nonetheless, a handful of studies have indeed suggested that the presence of others can affect performance, workload, and …

Perceptions And Prejudices: The Impact Of Societal Views On Minority Populations And Their Relations With Law Enforcement, Charlize K. Mejia-Velilla

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the perspectives of University of Central Florida (UCF) students on the complex interactions between minority communities and law enforcement. Through a carefully designed survey, this study captures a range of student opinions on the social dynamics shaping these encounters, with a particular focus on the underlying factors that influence these perspectives. By examining elements such as media exposure, personal encounters, and societal narratives, this research delves into how students form their views on policing and minority relations. This study also investigates potential biases, whether implicit or explicit, that may arise from these factors and contribute to shaping …

Measuring Elementary Students' Level Of Acquisition Of Historical Habits Of Mind, Natalia E. Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Providing elementary-aged students with opportunities to engage in authentic historical analysis is crucial to building their historical thinking skills. Teaching with primary and secondary sources allows students the opportunity to engage in authentic inquiry-based learning experiences where the acquisition of a historical concept is in their hands. This differs from the traditional social studies learning experience, as these inquiry-based learning experiences are student-centered, and the teacher is present as a guide. Developing social studies instruction utilizing the SOURCES Framework for Teaching with Primary and Secondary Sources (Waring, 2021) is an effective way to scaffold authentic historical inquiry at the upper …

Relationship Between Fentanyl Misinformation And College Students' Intentions To Administer Naloxone, Zoe Ryon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: The news media has spread misinformation about the toxicity and potency of fentanyl, exaggerating the extent to which bystanders could be harmed by fentanyl when responding to overdose situations. College students are increasingly among the victims of opioid overdose, and their peers may be the nearest person capable of administering naloxone – an overdose reversal medication. However, college students who fear incidental exposure to fentanyl may be worried about administering naloxone.

Objective: I sought to understand the relationship between undergraduate college students’ perceptions of the risks of fentanyl and their intentions to administer naloxone in an overdose situation.

Methods: …

Health Literacy And Maternal Health: A Rapid Systematic Review, Goldy Olivier

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In comparison to other high-income nations, the U.S. maintains the highest maternal mortality rate, especially among Black women. Factors like the growing maternal age and restricted family planning clinics have been noted to contribute to this phenomenon. However, the impact of health literacy on maternal has yet to be reviewed. Health literacy in the U.S. has long been determined to be a social determinant of health more broadly, and it may likely play a role in maternal health as well. Consequently, a systematic review of health literacy and its association with maternal health outcomes is warranted. The goal of this …

Speed And Judgment: The Effect Of Caseload On Florida’S District Courts Of Appeal, Isabella C. Johnston

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Florida District Courts of Appeal have undergone many changes over the last three years, including the adoption of video conferencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the creation of a brand-new district for the first time since 1979. Included in this series of changes was a new rule that moves most of the circuit court’s appellate jurisdiction into the jurisdiction the District Courts of Appeals (DCAs). This change has added to the systemic pressures of the Florida DCAs. While the creation of a new district is a step in the right direction to protect the effectiveness and perception of …

Machine Learning Approaches For Cyberbullying Detection, Roland Fiagbe

Data Science and Data Mining

Cyberbullying refers to the act of bullying using electronic means and the internet. In recent years, this act has been identifed to be a major problem among young people and even adults. It can negatively impact one’s emotions and lead to adverse outcomes like depression, anxiety, harassment, and suicide, among others. This has led to the need to employ machine learning techniques to automatically detect cyberbullying and prevent them on various social media platforms. In this study, we want to analyze the combination of some Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms (such as Bag-of-Words and TFIDF) with some popular machine learning …

Service Learning At Hope Helps, Abigail O. Bertsch

UN SDG Open Pedagogy Faculty Fellowship: Renewable Assignments

No abstract provided.

Film Adaptation Of Novels Through Genai, Joshua M. Head

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

When a production company commits to creating a film based on a novel, it is essential that their team is equipped to manage the extensive responsibilities required to authentically translate the book to the big screen. This study aims to explore and address these challenges by utilizing contemporary Generative Artificial Intelligence technologies, including Large Language Models, Text-To-Speech, and Text-To-Image models. While recent advancements have focused on enhancing these models, there is a gap in research on their practical application and effectiveness in real-world scenarios. This research will detail the steps necessary to deconstruct a novel’s narrative and produce the final …

School Experiences Of Young Adults Since The Passing Of "Don't Say Gay", Heather M. Summers

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

As of 2020, the US is home to an estimated over nine percent of youth 13-17 who identify as LGBTQ+ (Conron, 2020). There are hundreds of bills that have been passed into laws that restrict rights for LGBTQ+ individuals (Union, Mapping attacks on LGBTQ rights in US state legislatures in 2024, 2024). With risk factors specific to youth and with legislation altering the operation of schools, there is concern regarding the effect of such laws on students (Day, 2019). This dissertation provides an overview of how LGBTQ+ youth in schools have experienced the implementation of laws that emerged between 2022 …

Academic Resilience And Wellness As Predictors Of Imposter Syndrome In First-Generation Graduate Students, Timothy Eng

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study is a two-part manuscript dissertation that examined the relationships between academic resilience (perseverance, negative affect and emotional response, reflecting and adaptive help-seeking), wellness (spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and psychological wellness), and imposter syndrome among first-generation graduate counseling students (FGGCS). Survey data from 172 FGGCS’s was analyzed using bivariate correlational and regression analyses to answer four primary research questions: (1) Is there a statistically significant correlation between FGGCS’s level of imposter syndrome and academic resilience, (2) Is there a statistically significant correlation between FGGCS’s level of imposter syndrome and perceived wellness, (3) Are FGGCS’s level of academic resilience …

Effective Communication For Department Chairs: Thinking Like A Leader, Acting As A Colleague, Mark Hickson Iii

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the third essay in a three-part series that the author has been working on. The first and second parts appear in earlier volumes of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Student Engagement In The Communication Classroom: An Intervention To Encourage Student Success, Jay Baglia, Elissa Foster, Kendra Knight, Stephanie Grau

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Universities implement a variety of interventions to address student engagement and retention. This is especially true post-pandemic as faculty attempt to return to a pre-pandemic structure. Emerging adulthood aligns with the personal responsibility demanded of college students as well as changes in personal growth. In the current climate, stress has been shown to negatively impact executive functioning, the cognitive processes necessary for academic success. This essay describes an intervention encouraging student self-reflexivity around processes for engagement, academic success, and retention. Communication Fundamentals for College Success—a 5-week, two-credit workshop—was developed and delivered by the authors. Curriculum focused on time management, study …

Mapping The Ferment: Mediated Communication Research In Cios-Indexed Journals From 1970-2020, David J. Atkin, Kenneth A. Lachlan, Timothy D. Stephen, Carolyn Lagoe

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This study profiles scholarly publishing in the domain of mediated communication, based on an analysis of media-themed communication journals—as indexed in the CIOS’s ComAbstracts database—from 1970–2020. Analysis of 22,300 articles from media-themed scholarly journals paints a portrait of scholarly publishing configurations across the domains of Journalism and Communication. Criterion articles were subjected to cluster analysis that yielded a comprehensive unified field portrait of interlinkages among topical pairings encompassing 58 topical categories. Results suggest that just 7 of our 37 criterion journal outlets date to the 1970s, 6 additional titles were launched in the 1980s, 10 more in the 1990s, and …

Terminological (In)Justice: Terminology And Reality In A Coordinated Community Response To Intimate Partner Violence, Julio Montanez Ma, Amy Donley Phd

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

Definitions and terminologies are paramount for operationalizing the community-wide effort against intimate partner violence (IPV). However, definitions and terms that do not reflect reality are of little use. This is particularly true in IPV coordinated community responses that attempt to harmonize data collection and legal apparatuses at the federal, state, and local levels. Using qualitative (e.g., focus group and interview data from survivors, interviews with system actors) and quantitative data (e.g., Uniform Crime Reports) from a year-long study in a large southeastern county, the current study aims to answer the following research question: Do IPV-related terms (in data collection and …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Dialogical Demands Of Florida's 10th Grade B.E.S.T. English Language Arts Standards, Amanda Nb Kaplowitz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study investigates the extent to which the Florida B.E.S.T (Benchmark for Excellent Student Thinking) English Language Arts (ELA) standards demand that students participate in dialogic interactions within the 10th grade ELA classroom. Dialogic demands, characterized by active discourse and collaborative sense-making, are the opportunities students interact with one another or with a text. The dialogic elements of classroom pedagogy are an increasingly recognized critical component of effective literacy instruction in contrast with the monologic classroom where teachers are the primary source of information. A Critical Discourse Analysis through the lens of Fairclough is used as this research aims to …

A Critical Discursive Analysis Of The Effects Of Confidence Chats On The Positioning Of Students With Disabilities During Mathematics Discourse, Kelly R. Penny

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This qualitative study investigated how confidence chats affect how students with disabilities (SWD) position themselves during mathematics discourse and the impact the confidence chats had on a student’s mathematical identity. A critical discourse analysis was conducted over a three-month period using transcripts from classroom observations, student-teacher confidence chats, and teacher interview debriefs. Findings revealed that following the confidence chats, SWD participated in discourse, and students were able to adjust their positioning in relation to others. Over the course of the study, student collaboration increased and their reliance on teacher support decreased. In addition, the findings indicated that confidence chats provided …

University Of Central Florida Graduate Catalog, 2024 - 2025, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.